SOUTHFIELD, Mich. – Women's Lacrosse returns to the NAIA postseason for the fifth time in program history on Wednesday as they take on the University of the Cumberlands (Ky.) in the first round of the 2022 NAIA Women's Lacrosse National Championship.

The two teams square off from Blue Devils Stadium on the campus of Lawrence Tech in Southfield at 4 p.m. Wednesday. The winners advance to the Semifinals at 7 p.m. on Thursday against the winner of the Kaiser/SCAD-Savannah game, which wraps up Wednesday's opening round action.

The tournament match-up marks the third meeting between the two programs. Their last meeting was the final game of the 2020 season for Benedictine before the shutdown related to the Covid-19 Pandemic. Cumberlands took that game by the final of 16-11 at home. The previous meeting took place in the 2019 NAIA National Invitational Semifinals in Grand Rapids, Mich., where Benedictine earned a 14-10 win. 

Benedictine earned their trip back to the second-ever championship tournament after winning their fifth KCAC Tournament title. The No. 6-ranked Ravens enter the tournament with an overall record of 13-1. Cumberlands earned their trip to the tournament as an at-large after finishing the season at 18-2 and finishing the regular season at No. 3.

The Patriots enter the championship field as the NAIA leader in five different categories: goals (389), assists (226), shots (742), draw controls (358) and save percentage (55.1%). Bella Ricchiazzi is second in the nation in three different categories: goals (98), assists (60), and points (158). She is also third in the nation in shots (148).

The Ravens enter the championship field among the NAIA leaders in goals (297, 5th), assists (189, 2nd), goals-per-game (21.21, 1st), and shooting percentage (56.0, 1st).  Natalie Wechter, the reigning NAIA Player of the Year, ranks third in the NAIA in goals (82) and points (110). She also ranks second in draw controls (136) and is fifth in shots (131).

The game also features two of the NAIA's top goalies. Cumberland's Olivia McCarrell leads the NAIA in goals-against average (5.68) while Benedictine's Gianna Stalletti ranks second (5.71.) They are first and second in save percentage with McCarrell at 56.7 percent and Stalletti at 54.6.

Benedictine's Clare Ryan ranks third in the NAIA in assists (53). Erica Odell (57) and Aiden McEnerney (54) give the Ravens two additional scoring threats to go along with Wechter while Marguax Gelbach (27), Ryan (27), and Elizabeth Conley (22) give the Ravens six total scorers with 20 or more goals this season. 

Live links are available at www.ravenathletics.com. The video stream is through the NAIANetwork at www.naianetwork.com (or the NAIA app on Apple TV, Amazon FireTV, or Roku) and is a pay-per-view stream. 

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